From Nike Air to Adidas Boost: The Evolution of Athletic Shoe Tech

From creating crazy cushioning to ludicrously lightweight fabrics—and even making up materials along the way—the science of shoes has evolved well beyond pockets of air (we've got that covered, too, though). Walk through the intriguing advancements.

Energy Boost, Adidas

Energy Boost, Adidas

Adidas unveiled a new midsole foam in Manhattan on Feb. 13 designed to provide runners the greatest energy return of any product created. Gerd Manz, Adidas global senior innovation director, tells PM that the company worked with chemical manufacturer BASF to create a thermoplastic polyurethane foam that outperforms EVA foam in energy return, cushioning, and durability and can withstand more extreme temperature changes (EVA foam is used in nearly 95 percent of all running shoes).

Adidas created a new manufacturing process for the shoe industry—mimicking examples found in automobile manufacturing—that heat-steams the individual pea-size foam capsules together into the sole for its new Boost running shoe, which it planned for public release tomorrow. Manz says the manufacturing process has been used on other materials in the past, but this was akin to Adidas "cooking a leg of lamb instead of a cake."

Yohan Blake, Jamaican track star, says the new energy response is "everything" to him while he runs. The Boost's midsole density remains on par with other shoes but offers more "energy displacement out of the same height," which also gives a runner more cushioning, a combination Manz says wasn't possible until now. Adidas plans to start adding Boost to all its performance running shoes soon, and eventually will phase out EVA foam altogether.

Boost is just the latest in a long history of shoe companies experimenting with advanced materials and designs to make athletic shoes lighter and better. Here's the best of the rest.

Air, Nike

Air, Nike

The running shoe moved beyond just rubber and fabric in 1979, when Nike introduced "air cushioning technology," embedded small pouches of air for comfort within the midsoles of its running shoes. Each unit trapped air molecules inside a durable urethane shell. With each step, the unit compressed and then recovered for the next step.

The experiment proved an impressive advance in running technology and a staggering success in marketing—everybody had to have Nike Air. The air pockets continued to expand beyond the midsole, taking center stage in 1987 in the Air Max, which decreased the midsole and allowed for larger-volume airbags. For the first time the air pockets were expanded across the entire shoe and made visible from the outside. Nike Air, in various forms, is still in use today.